


Hope is like a Ferris wheel

by Chireusette



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Prompt Fic, alternate first meeting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 20:11:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7329136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chireusette/pseuds/Chireusette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ferris Wheel prompt:<br/>“I wanted to go on the ferris wheel but there has to be two people to a cart come on random person let’s go oh wait are we stuck at the top? Fuck”</p>
<p>I read this prompt on Tumblr and found it so cute I tried something with Olicity. It's set approximately halfway through s1 and it's an alternate meeting for Oliver and Felicity. I took some other small liberties that you'll discover while reading.<br/>It's basically all fluff because I'm a fluff ball myself.</p>
<p>Hope you enjoy it! ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope is like a Ferris wheel

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the AMAZING Janelle (@Chronicolicity) who was my beta for this fic. The finished product is so much better thanks to her edits and advice. Thank you my dear! :-*

_**Oliver** _

What was he doing here? Why did he let Tommy drag him to the fun fair? _“You've been running around the city, putting arrows into people for months now, Oliver. You need to relax! You're still a human being, you know.”_ He wasn't so sure about that. He'd been back six months and righting his father's wrongs had been the only thing driving him since then. Even though he managed to reconnect a bit with his family, confided in Tommy after saving his life, and found a new friend and ally in Diggle, he still hadn't quite regained his will to let himself be alive again. So he had given in. He agreed to go to the fair with Tommy and Laurel, who have been dating for a while now, and try to get his mind off his mission for a little bit. They were his two oldest friends after all and he did enjoy spending time with them. Of course, Laurel was still oblivious to everything that happened to him during those five years (but then again, everyone was) and didn't know about his pastime chasing criminals to save the city.

And now here he was. Just walking down the different aisles, trying to find something to occupy himself with while his friends were done riding the ghost train. He passed different stands. A lot of them involved shooting something to win a prize so he didn't bother to stop since it would be too easy for him and not so much fun. But then he came across the ferris wheel. He loved ferris wheels. Ever since he was a little kid. He'd always enjoyed reaching the top and seeing all the lights from the city, like stars in the sky. Everything seemed so peaceful up there. Just like the feeling he got standing on a tall rooftop, except when his predator instincts kicked in at the sound of some low-life hurting someone. So, what the hell? He was there already, might as well go for a ride.

Oliver arrived at the booth and took five dollars out from his wallet.

“I'd like one ticket please.”

The lady looked quickly behind him to see if there was more people waiting. There was not.

“I'm sorry, sir. Are you alone?”

“Um...”, he looked a little surprised. “Yeah. Why, is there a problem? 

“I'm sorry, but we require two people per cart so you won't be able to ride alone.”

Really? He was the Hood and had criminals for dinner but he was going to be defeated by a simple policy?

“Are you sure you can't make an exception? My friends are doing something else at the moment and I don't know what else to do.”

“I've very sorry, sir, but my boss won't let me. People have tried before. Maybe you can find someone else to ride with you?” She started blushing and playing with the tip of her braid. “I'm sure you can find someone who'd be interested.”

Of course, because he was Oliver Queen. Sometimes he forgot that to the rest of the world, he was still this former billionaire playboy who turned women into puddles with the power of a single look.

He took his five bucks back, smiled and left with his hands in his pockets. He walked a little further and sighed.

“Well... I guess I'll have to find something else to do then.”

He actually didn't have to go far. Sounds of excitement were coming from a stand a few feet away, enough to pique his interest. As he approached, he discovered that the source of the noise was a small blonde woman, who apparently had a talent for knocking down cans with a foam ball. She'd already taken down three piles, raising her fist and shouting "yes!" with each win. That made him chuckle. And he didn't chuckle. He wasn't the kind of guy to chuckle. Especially not since he'd been back. It was a blur of fake smiles and laughs. But this girl... he didn't know. He just liked her enthusiasm. So he decided to stay and watch. And she was on a roll. Six towers of cans total and she'd knocked five of them down already. It was an impressive feat, not least because they were positioned far apart and he guessed the little balls weren't particularly heavy, requiring a forceful throw to land a hit. The sight of her became mesmerizing. She had beautiful form and he couldn't help but stand there with his arms crossed over his chest, smiling while he stared at her. She was positioning herself in front of the last pile, squeezing the little ball in her hands close to her heart.

“Come on, baby, get me that stuffed animal.”

She pulled her arm back and threw it right at the center, sending the cans tumbling all around.

Another fist in the air, another “yes!”, accompanied by a little groan of victory.

“Boom! Come to mama!”

Oliver laughed again, dipping his head and shaking it slightly from side to side. She really was amusing, not to mention incredibly entertaining when it came to knocking down towers of empty tin cans.

The guy in charge of the game clapped like he was conceding a victory, and came to stand in front of her.

“Alright, Smoak. I see you're still the Queen of cans.” Smoak? Was that her last name? “So what will it be this time? You've already won almost all the biggest prizes here. The only things left are a stuffed kangaroo and a panda.”

They definitely seemed to be acquainted already, based off the way he was talking to her. So she was a regular at the fair. But she shuddered at his question.

“Ughhh, no kangaroos! They freak me out. They look evil. Don't ask me why I think that, I just do. So I'll take the panda. He'll be a fine addition to my collection, plus he'll match perfectly with my magnificent slippers.”

Right on cue, Oliver's gaze dropped to her feet. She was indeed wearing a pair of cute black, white and pink panda slippers. Huh. He'd never seen anyone wearing shoes like these before. He liked it. It seemed to match her perky personality the way a fish suited the water.

“Alright, Felicity, there you go.”

Felicity. That was a nice name. The man handed her the panda and she happily took it.

“Thank youuu!”, she said, and leaned over the counter to land a peck on the guy's cheek.

Prize in hand, she waved goodbye and started to walk away. All her attention was devoted to inspecting the panda, and not on where she was going – which was when she collided head-on into Oliver himself, still standing a few paces away. Fortunately for the both of them, he was a little faster on the reflex front and caught her by the forearms before she lost her balance.

“Oh, I'm so sorry!” she said, readjusting her glasses before she looked up. At him. It was a delayed reaction, a tracking inspection that started from the vicinity of his stomach, and ended on his face. Her eyes instantly widened and she gulped. Loudly.

“It's okay,” he answered, smiling softly. “I _was_ kinda in your way.”

His hands were still resting lightly on her arms, and for a second, Felicity seemed like she had no idea what to say.

 

_**Felicity** _

“Oh, that's... a _lot_ of muscles.”

Oliver raised his eyebrows at that and chuckled, again, letting her go. She, on the other hand, shook her head, cursing silently at her stupid filter-resistant mouth.

“I mean... you have a very prominent... _stature_. I kinda felt like I hit a wall, there. Granted, it's a much softer one but still...” He just stood there, listening to her adorable babbling with a little grin on his face. “And I'm just going to shut up now before I get even more embarrassing. So, so sorry again, mister...”

“Oliver. And really, it's okay.”

She could feel the flush creeping up her chest because damn, that was one gorgeous man. Those eyes, so blue, and his smile... it just seemed like unfair genetics. Unfair Darwinism. Or – well – maybe just _Darwinism_.

“I'm Felicity,” she said, with her widest smile.

“Nice to meet you, Felicity.” He offered his hand and she shook it. “I've actually been watching you at play with those cans. You have pretty impressive skills.”

“What, this?” she said, pointing at the stand behind them. “No, it's nothing. I've just been coming here for years so trust me, I've had plenty of time to master the art.”

He nodded, a grin still plastered on his face.

“So, why were you spying? You're not trying to steal my panda, are you? Cause I've had my eye on this puppy for a while now, and I'm not about to part from it without a fight.”

He laughed. Well, at least her terrible jokes didn't rebuff him.

“No, I promise I don't want to steal your panda. I was just walking around when I noticed you were on a winning streak. But maybe I'm holding you back from something. You have people to meet somewhere?”

“Um, no, actually. I came here alone. I do that a lot. I just needed a break, unwind, and this is a pretty good place to do it.”

“Oh.” He seemed pleasantly surprised. “I was actually about to go on the ferris wheel but they told me I couldn't ride alone. Would you maybe like to come with me? My friends are busy elsewhere and I'm getting kinda bored just walking around.”

That took her aback a little. I mean, it's not every day an insanely attractive stranger who she just bumped into asked her to go on a ride with him. She was very tempted to accept, but there was the issue of her fear of heights and she didn't want to make a fool of herself anymore than she already did.

“That would be lovely, except I'm really afraid of heights. So I probably wouldn't be the right person to come with you.”

“Even if I promised to protect you? I'm sure I could take your mind off your fear. ”

Wait... Was he flirting? Was that really happening? If she was blushing before, she was sure she was as red as a stop sign now.

“O-kay...” She finally answered, clutching the panda to her chest.

He led them to the ferris wheel, bought two tickets before she could protest, and invited her to hop on first by extending his hand to help her.

“Thank you.” What a gentleman. She didn't know the man factory still made the _Chivalry_ model.

The wheel finally started moving and Felicity closed her eyes, breathing through her mouth, nervousness starting to kick in. One of her hands clutched her panda while the other gripped the metal bar in front of them.

“Are you okay?” Oliver inquired softly. “It's not moving too fast for you, is it?”

She shook her head swiftly.

“Mm-mm. It's just knowing we left the ground that's making me nervous.”

That was when he rested his hand on top of hers on the bar, running his thumb up and down. She could feel his palm, rough, with calloused fingers, but still...very soft.

“It's gonna be okay. I'm sure once we reach the top, you'll love the view from up there.”

She finally opened her eyes and saw he was looking at her, his eyes full of sweet reassurance. _Okay Felicity, get yourself together and don't ruin this._ She exhaled slowly and decided to start the conversation while the wheel continued its ascent.

“So, Oliver... what do you do? In life, I mean.”

“I own a club with a friend of mine. The one who came with me tonight with his girlfriend actually.”

“Oh, really? You must be quite the night owl then.”

“You could say that. I just find that I'm a little restless at night so having a nighttime job seemed to be a logical choice.”

She nodded, her lips forming a tight line. Her attention drifted away for a second as she noticed they were halfway to the top already.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”, she said, turning back to him.

“What do you do?”

“I'm a computer geek. I deal with cyber security and computer sciences.” He seemed genuinely interested and she felt a smile tugging at her lips in spite of the nagging knot in her stomach. “I'm actually looking for a new job at the moment.”

“Whoa. You seem... so young. How long have you been working?”

“Three years. But I got tired of working with the idiots at the I.T department who wouldn't take my advice so I left. Hopefully my job interview tomorrow will go well.”

“Ah, and that's why you came here tonight. To unwind.”

“Pretty much. I've been coming here ever since I moved to the city. I love the atmosphere. Everyone seems so happy and it's beautiful at night. Plus, they serve the best, most disgustingly delicious hotdogs you'll ever eat. It's quite the comfort food.”

Oliver laughed, his hand leaving hers. Instead, he put his left arm along the back of the bench they were sitting on. He was so warm. She didn't pay attention before but now that he was no longer touching her, the air felt much chiller.

“Really? Well, you'll have to show me one of these days.”

His smile probably caused a lot of women to lose themselves. It was contagious, and Felicity really was starting to relax and forget about her fear.

They were almost at the top when the wheel jerked to an abrupt halt, the cart rocking from side to side. Her heart immediately leaped into her throat and she gripped his arm.

“What... what's going on? Why did we stop? What's happening?”

“Hey, hey...” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. “It's okay. It must be a temporary malfunction.”

“ _Malfunction_? I don't like the sound of that!”

That's when they heard a voice coming out of the speakers: _“Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing a little technical difficulty. Please stay seated. The wheel will restart shortly.”_

People all around them starting whispering in concern and Felicity closed her eyes again, lowering her forehead to the bench with a small _thump._

“I knew I shouldn't have agreed to come. Nothing good happens when you leave the ground. But no, I had to follow the cute guy with the amazing smile and _crazy_ blue eyes...”

_Damnit_. There went her filter-resistant mouth again. Now he clearly knew she wasn't indifferent to him.

“Felicity...” He moved his other hand to her shoulder, trying to bring her attention back to him. She forced herself to look at him. “Just breathe. It's gonna be okay. These things tend to happen but I swear to you they're gonna fix everything and we will come back down.”

She stared into his eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths, and finally nodded.

“Good”, he smiled at her softly before turning his head to face the horizon. “Try to enjoy the view. It's really pretty from up here and you can see quite a bit of the city.”

She gulped and did as he said. The cart had stopped moving now, which did wonders to ease the tension. Some of it, anyway. The view was indeed very alluring. The sun was setting and they could see the rays reflecting off all the tall buildings.

Oliver scooted a little closer to her, never letting go of her hand, and pointed to a spot in the distance.

“See the building on the left, with a big “Q” on it?” She nodded. “That's my family's company. Queen Consolidated.”

_Oh no._ No, no, _no._ How did the situation get even worse? Felicity was actually trapped on top of a ferris wheel with Oliver freaking Queen, as in Queen Consolidated, as in the company she had an interview for the next day to join their I.T department... He could very well be her future boss!

“Ooh, this is bad... This is so, _so_ bad.”

He looked at her, puzzled, like he said something wrong.

“What's going on? Are you okay?”

She let out a shaky laugh.

“Well... You remember when I told you I had an interview tomorrow?” He studied her, not understanding where she was going. “It's for your family's company.” His eyes widened in surprise. Small world, huh? “So... I'm basically trapped here, shaking like an idiot, with my boss to whom I blatantly said he was cute and muscly and... Ughhh, I just feel really stupid right now.”

But Oliver didn't appear shaken in the least by this. If anything, he seemed to enjoy the way she let her emotions flow out of her.

“Felicity, first off, I'm not your boss. I have no say in the company and I never interfere with its business. Second, I think it's actually kind of amusing that of all people, we met tonight.”

She raised her eyebrows at that, a small breathy laugh escaping her.

“I slammed into you and then babbled about your... _firm_ body. That's a pretty mortifying way to meet someone in my book.”

He chuckled, bowing his head.

“And I'm glad you did. I was starting to get very bored and I didn't even want to come here tonight. But then you happened, and it was a pleasant surprise.”

Felicity began to collect herself again. She couldn't believe he wasn't bothered by her awkwardness. That definitely increased the warm feeling she had at being near him, as uncomfortable as it was remaining a hundred feet above the ground. She ended up beaming at him.

“I can't believe I didn't even realize you were Oliver Queen. I've never really paid attention to gossips but this is ridiculous.”

“In your defense, I've tried to keep a lower profile since I've been back. But I admit I did like the fact that you didn't recognize me.”

There was that smile again. The one that reached his deep blue eyes and made you forget all about your troubles. He dared to grab her hand again, intertwining their fingers together.

“Feeling better?”

“...Yeah. Turns out you really are good at taking my mind off things. Depending of course on whether we actually _do_ get out of here someday.”

And as if the universe had heard her, the wheel screeched and they resumed their descent.

“Oh, thank God!” she exhaled, shutting her eyes, which made Oliver giggle.

“What? Being stuck with me was that terrible? You can't wait to be rid of me?”

Her gaze focused on him once more and she gently squeezed his hand.

“Actually, it wasn't half bad. Granted, I would have preferred not to find myself swinging so far above the ground, but you helped me through. Like a proper gentleman.”

Oliver bent his head towards her, his voice coming out a bit lower.

“Does this mean you'd agree I take you out sometime?”

She looked at him with wide eyes, surprised by his offer, finding herself speechless for a second.

“Like a... date?”

“Yeah. Absolutely like a date. It can be wherever you want. You could introduce me to the famous hotdogs you were talking about, or I could take you out to dinner in a fine restaurant, like the proper gentleman you say I am.”

_Whoa_. Was her heart pounding in her chest? She was pretty sure it was. She felt the blood rushing to her ears and butterflies invading her stomach.

“Yeah...” Her response came out barely higher than a whisper. “I'd like that.”

 

_**Oliver** _

He was thrilled to hear that. He couldn't quite explain it. After spending five years away from his loved ones and witnessing countless terrible things, he'd lost a lot of faith in humanity and was sure he'd lost most of himself in the process. But from the moment he saw her at that stand, he saw a person. A real person so full of life who appeared to brighten one's day just by smiling and laughing. And just like that, he felt drawn to her. And that hadn't happened since he'd been back. Sure, he'd had two relationships but he couldn't fully commit to them because something was missing. Maybe Felicity could change all that. Maybe he could finally be ready to take Tommy's advice and start living again. Maybe he just hadn't met the right person before.

They finally reached the bottom and exited the cart.

“Ooooh, it feels so good to walk on a solid surface again!”

They hadn't stopped holding hands and didn't even seem to notice. It felt nice. Natural. Easy. For once Oliver didn't feel like the Vigilante haunted by his demons and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Oh, I spot my friends. Come on, I'll introduce you and we'll tell them all about our little adventure.”

He saw she was blushing again, probably getting a bit timid at the thought of meeting them. But he was comforted by the fact that she still seemed very at ease in his presence. And anyway, he didn't want their moment to end just yet.

“Okay. But promise me you'll skip the part where I thought we were gonna die up there.”

He guffawed at her request, their shoulders touching.

“Deal. Come on.”

He then led her to Tommy and Laurel, who looked at each other, pleasantly surprised, to see Oliver join them with a very attractive blonde by his side. When they reached them, Tommy was the one to speak first.

“Oh, Oliver, did you get lost and had to ask this lady for help? I'm so sorry if he's been bothering you.”

Oliver rolled his eyes at him while Laurel smiled and shook her head. Of course his bestfriend was going to open up the conversation demonstrating his boundless sense of humor. Fortunately, Felicity seemed rid of all tension after that and let out a small laugh. Oliver proceeded to make the introductions.

“Tommy, Laurel, this is Felicity.” They all greeted each other and shook hands. “She rescued me from a deadly feeling of boredom by graciously accepting to go on the ferris wheel with me.”

Laurel raised her eyebrows and turned to Felicity.

“Well, that was very nice of you. And I'm guessing you actually had a good time otherwise you would've run for the hills already.” she continued, winking at her. “So what do you guys say we go grab something to eat? I'd love to hear more about your encounter.”

Food was a good idea. His stomach was starting to grumble and he really wanted his friends to get to know her, and for him to know more about her as well.

“I'd love to.” Felicity answered. “Plus, I'm starving.”

On that note, they all decided to try the hotdogs she was raving about. As the four of them were walking side by side, Oliver grabbed Felicity's hand without a second thought and she didn't hesitate intertwining their fingers together.

 

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> With all the angst we've had this season and the probably tough beginning of s5, a little fluff is always good. I hope it had this effect on you! :)


End file.
